Venezuela's CITGO to Provide Cheap Gas for U.S. Hospitals, Nursing Homes and in the USA.
- From: marcelocrisanto@xxxxxxx
- Date: 30 Aug 2005 06:57:45 -0700
Caracas, Venezuela. August 28, 2005 (VenezuelAnalysis.com).- Rafael
Ramirez, president of Venezuela's oil company PDVSA, offered some
details of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's offer to provide
cheaper gasoline and heating oil to U.S. poor communities.
Speaking shortly after a press conference held by President Chavez
and U.S. Reverend Jesse Jackson, Ramirez said that CITGO Petroleum
Corp., the wholly owned subsidiary of PDVSA, is currently refining up
to 664.000 barrels of oil through the refineries it owns and operates
in the United States.
Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter and the fourth
largest supplier of oil to the United States. Venezuelan oil
accounted for 12% of U.S. oil imports.
Ramirez said that under the Venezuelan government plan, CITGO will
set aside up to 10% of its refined oil products to be sold directly
to organized poor communities, and institutions in the U.S. without
intermediaries.
The plan calls for the sale of heating oil and gasoline to hospitals,
nursing homes, schools and organized poor communities in U.S. soil,
according to Ramirez.
Other Venezuelan government officials, who asked not to be named,
said that Venezuela will not lose any money with this program because
the idea is to "cut the middle-man", the intermediaries.
Ramirez said the beneficiaries will see a price reduction of about
30%.
Ramirez, who is also Venezuela's Minister of Oil and Energy, denied
that Reverend Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition would be the
recipient of the cheaper oil.
The Minister said Reverend Jackson's organization could help
Venezuela identify those who are in need, but that they will not be
the recipients of the products.
Ramirez was confident the program will be implemented before the U.S.
winter begins.
CITGO Petroleum Corp. owns and operates eight refineries in the
United States.
It is unclear how the CITGO gas will reach the consumers, as CITGO
does not own any of the 14.000 CITGO-branded gas stations operating
in U.S. territory through franchising.
"Impact on seven to eight million persons"
"There is a lot of poverty in the U.S. and I don't believe that
reflects the American Way of Life. Many people die of cold in the
winter. Many die of heat in the summer," said Chavez on Sunday during
his weekly TV show, explaining why Venezuela was interested in
providing discounted heating oil to the U.S. poor.
"We could have an impact on seven to eight million persons," Chavez
added.
Venezuela's ambassador to the U.S. Bernardo Alvarez, had told Chavez
that the embassy in Washington DC has already received over 140
requests about the plan, even though it has not been formally
announced yet.
Monday, Aug 29, 2005
By: Bernardo Delgado - Venezuelanalysis.com
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